Honouring and encouraging outstanding achievement in the sciences, technologies and humanities and supporting the activities of the Royal Society of New Zealand.

Gregor William Yeates

PhD DSc Cantuar. FSN FRSNZ FNZSSS

1944–2012

Dr Gregor Yeates, world renowned soil biologist/nematologist, ecologist, and systematist, died in his home town of Palmerston North, New Zealand, on 6 August 2012 after a brief illness.

Throughout his career, Gregor dedicated his research to understanding the ecology and sytematics of soil organisms, especially nematodes, primarily in New Zealand but also internationally. He authored over 300 scientific publications, spanning a 45-year period. Gregor also had significant roles in numerous scientific organisations, both nationally – Wellington and Manawatu Branch levels of the Royal Society of New Zealand – and internationally.

Born in New Zealand in 1944, Gregor started his career with a BSc (First Class Honours) in 1966, followed by a PhD in 1968, both completed through the then Department of Zoology at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. His focus at that time was on characterising and understanding the communities of nematodes in sand dunes. In 1986 he was conferred with a DSc from the University of Canterbury.

Following his PhD, Gregor conducted postdoctoral research at the Rothamsted Experimental Station in England over 1968–1969, and at the Aarhus Museum of Natural History in Denmark from 1969 to 1970, focusing on nematode community ecology, energetics, and production in a Danish beech forest. He returned to New Zealand in 1970 where he remained based, first with the DSIR Soil Bureau in Lower Hutt, then DSIR Division of Land Resources in 1988, and DSIR Land Resources in 1990. He was awarded a Nuffield Foundation Commonwealth Travelling Fellowship to study at Rothamsted in 1977–1978. Following the restructuring of New Zealand Government science institutions in 1992, he worked for Landcare Research, first in Lower Hutt, then, from 1994 until his retirement in 2009, in Palmerston North, the city of his childhood. Following retirement he continued his scientific work as an Honorary Research Associate in the Soil and Earth Science Group, Institute of Natural Resources at Massey University.

During his 39 years with DSIR and Landcare Research, he applied his skills tirelessly to a very broad range of topics and projects, the majority involving the ecology and systematics of soil nematodes, but many also involving other groups of fauna ranging from earthworms to flatworms, porina, grassgrubs, other invertebrates that inhabit the soil, and even to Adelie penguins. He published 292 papers in scientific journals, with a further 9 in press or in preparation at the time of his death. He wrote a number of book chapters, and over 300 other scientific communications (reports, conference papers, abstracts, etc.) and about 40 popular articles for newsletters, newspapers etc. His paper: G. W. Yeates; T. Bongers; R. G. M. De Groede; D. W. Freckman; and S. S. Georgieva (1993): Feeding habits in soil nematode families and genera—An outline for soil ecologists, Journal of Nematology 25(3): 315–331, has been cited over 900 times (Google Scholar).

Gregor contributed significantly to the research on nematode community structures and the influence of environmental and management effects upon them. He studied nematodes and other soil organisms in environments as diverse as Antarctica to Northern Europe, from habitats that included sand dunes, pastures, forests, agricultural fields, and invertebrate intestines. He has had a profound influence on the systematics of nematodes. He named 106 nematode species (81 alone, 25 jointly); with the holotypes of 77 species being deposited in the National Nematode Collection of New Zealand (out of a total of 197 holotypes), as well as helping with several others.

Gregor particularly enjoyed editorial and reviewing work, serving on the editorial boards of several journals (until shortly before his death, and some for well over 20 years) including Pedobiologia, Biology & Fertility of Soils, Nematologica, Applied Soil Ecology, Fundamental and Applied Nematology, the Russian Journal of Nematology, the New Zealand Journal of Zoology, and Journal of Nematology.

Gregor’s contribution to science, both in New Zealand and abroad, was recognised by a number of honours. He was made a Fellow of the New Zealand Society of Soil Science (NZSSS) in 1995; a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand (RSNZ) in 1998; an Honorary Member of the RSNZ Manawatu Branch in 2004; and a Fellow of the Society of Nematologists (USA) in 2007. One of his collaborators, Dr Brian Boag of the Hutton Institute in Dundee, described Gregor as “the greatest nematologist there has been”. He was also chosen as the NZSSS Norman Taylor Memorial Lecturer for 2006.

Gregor served the New Zealand science community through numerous roles. He represented the Branches during 1990–1992 on the RSNZ Member Bodies’ Management Committee and on the Interim Board during 1992–1997; later he served on the Research Grants, Awards and Academic Fellowship Board Committees. He was instrumental in setting up the RSNZ Endowment Trust Fund, serving as a Trustee from 2010 to 2012. He also served in various roles on the RSNZ Wellington Branch committee: Council member (1981–93); Treasurer (1981−84); Vice-President (1985−86); President (1987–88); and Biology Section Committee (1990−94). Later he served on the RSNZ Manawatu Branch Committee (1996–2012): Vice-President (1998−99); President (2000−2001); Secretary (2002−2012); and Treasurer (2009). He was also President of the NZ Society of Parasitology during 1990–1991. Gregor represented New Zealand on the European Society of Nematologists from 2005 and had several roles in the Society of Nematologists, USA, between 1976 and 2008.

Gregor mentored numerous post-graduate students and was an external examiner for masterate and PhD theses. In recent years, he remained active in a number of pursuits that served to communicate science to a broader and younger population. He assisted with an Auckland Bio-Blitz, and, with Professor Vince Neall, authored and co-edited Plains Science 1 on scientific achievements in the Manawatu. Gregor judged at Manawatu Science Fairs and mentored students in both Science Fair and CREST projects. Not long before his death he was assisting Bunnythorpe Primary School with their Science Fair projects, which led to the memorable quote from one of the students: ‘Dr Yeates, you are so COOL’. Gregor was elected to the Committee of The Science Centre Inc in 2004, becoming a strong advocate for local science for school children and the general public. He was Treasurer from 2009 until he died. He was also appointed to The Science Centre Trust in 2005 and became Chair from 2006 until his death, supporting development of science exhibits in Te Manawa, the local museum, science centre and art gallery.

Gregor also played a leading role in his community. He served as an Upper Hutt City Councillor and Hutt Valley Drainage Board member from 1973 to 1977. Continuing his father’s passion for rhododendrons, he served on the Council of the New Zealand Rhododendron Association (1997–2000), as archivist (2000–2012), and was an inaugural Trustee and Friend of the Heritage Park Rhododendron Charitable Trust at Kimbolton.

Gregor will be remembered not only as an extraordinary soil biologist and scientist, but also as a mentor and friend to many. He had an infectious enthusiasm for everything science and soil biology, which inevitably had a lasting impact on those who interacted with him. He is survived by his wife Judy, his sons Peter and Stuart, and their families.

Acknowledgments: Thanks to Judy, Peter, and Stuart Yeates, and David Wardle for providing information on Gregor’s career.

Yeates, G. W. 1978: Reinfestation of small plots by clover cyst nematode ‑ a note. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 21: 147.

Yeates, G. W. 1978: Influence of Heterodera trifolii cyst inoculum on white clover growth and final cyst count in pots of a yellow‑brown pumice soil. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 21: 149-151.

Yeates, G. W. 1978: Populations of nematode genera in soils under pasture. I. Seasonal dynamics in dryland and irrigated pasture on a southern yellow‑grey earth. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 21: 321-330. [corrigenda: the actual block for Figure 2, page 323 of part I should be swapped with that in Figure 1, page 332 of part II]

Yeates, G. W. 1978: Populations of nematode genera in soils under pasture. II. Seasonal dynamics in dryland and effluent irrigated pastures on a central yellow‑grey earth. New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research 21: 331-340. [corrigenda: the actual block for Figure 2, page 323 of part I should be swapped with that in Figure 1, page 332 of part II]

Arthington, Angela H.; Yeates, G. W.; Conrick, D. L. 1986: Nematodes, including a new record of Tobrilus diversipapillatus in Australia, as potential indicators of sewage effluent pollution. Australian Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 37: 159-166.

Listed as the most cited paper (199 citations) with a Landcare Research staff member as lead author, in the 2002 Annual Report of Landcare Research. Landcare Research internal and annual reports indicate 279 citations to 30 June 2004. As at December 2010 ISI listed 633 citations.

Yeates, G. W. 1993: Influence of a sabbatical fallow on oligochaetes and nematodes in a hill country pasture. Proceedings of the Sixth Australasian Conference on Grassland Invertebrate Ecology (R. A. Prestidge, ed.): 142-147.

Yeates, G. W.; King, Kathleen L. 1997: Soil nematodes as indicators of the effect of management of grasslands in the New England Tablelands (NSW): comparison of native and improved grasslands. Pedobiologia 41: 526-536.

Yeates, G. W.; Waller, P. J.; King, Kathleen L. 1997: Soil nematodes as indicators of the effect of management of grasslands in the New England Tablelands (NSW): effect of measures for control of parasites of sheep. Pedobiologia 41: 537-548.

Stirling, G. R.; Yeates, G.W.; Davies, K.; Hodda, M. 2008: The history of plant and soil nematology in Australia and New Zealand, with particular reference to the contributions of six pioneering nematologists.Australasian Plant Pathology37: 203–219. 10.1071/AP08017 0815-3191/08/030203